Burst Through that Window
by Miss Whoniverse
Summary: Carlisle had never looked more like a vampire than he did when he burst through that window." A random oneshot giving an alternate take on the Victoria revenge thing. You will find it interesting, methinks! Please try it and review! :D


**Review. I don't know why I thought of this; but I did. Blame the muse – she liked the image of Carlisle leaping through a window looking all vampiric; oh yes she did. BxE (but Edward makes no appearance)**

**Bella POV**

Carlisle had never looked more like a vampire than he did when he burst through that window.

Let me explain.

I was – rather innocently – making a fajita for myself when it happened. Edward was hunting; as he did periodically, and Charlie was on one of his trainings that he had to go to every few months. Those ones that police officers and the like go to so that the government can make sure they're still fit and haven't gone nutty or anything.

She came for me. It had been so long since the last nightmare that I barely even reacted to the prickling on the back of my neck until I heard her sigh.

Spinning around, she stood there, leaning against the kitchen door and watching me with a calm expression and a cocked head. I was speechless, but not as scared as I had always imagined.

Maybe that's what she intended. She regarded me cautiously; as though she didn't want to scare me, and I stared right back; willing my heart to thump more slowly even as I watched her without reacting.

We both knew it was useless for me to run. There was a sort of mutual understanding that I was royally screwed at that point; and I didn't try to run any more than she attempted to prevent me.

I slowly put the dishcloth back on the sink and turned away slightly to turn the tap off. It cluttered to a halt, pipes drumming weakly and stopping with an air of finality.

I never turned my back fully to her even though I knew it would have no effect on the outcome of the situation – there was no use panicking, although I suddenly found myself wishing I had put more deodorant on to stop the nervous sweat under my arms.

"I have to take you," she murmured without a lot of emotion. There was just a sort of resignation, and what stuck out the most wasn't an emotion; it was a lack of. She sounded like her anger and hatred had faded away; simply leaving a responsibility that she couldn't neglect.

"I know," I found myself saying, and then I mentally kicked myself. Hard. Mentally; my tibia broke with the force of the kick. Why wasn't I stalling? Why didn't I call for help?

_Because it wouldn't do you any good_, the annoying voice of reason told me. I already knew this; but I would spend the last moments of my life thinking whatever I damn pleased; thank you very much.

My response did, however; seem to stump her. "Aren't you going to fight?"

"No point," I whispered; my voice a ghost of its normal tenor. "Nowhere to go. Not fast enough."

"Neither was James," she breathed, her eyes closing briefly. "I don't really want to kill you. Well... I do; but the anger passed. I'm sad. I have nothing to exist for – nothing to prove and nowhere to go... your Edward deserves to feel the same suffering; but it's not like it pleases me unduly to take your life. It's... necessary, you might say." After a moment, she elaborated a little. "I never make my prey suffer. They always die quickly; even if they get a little scare first...."

She spoke of my death as though I should be nodding and 'mmm'-ing. I could only stare; and some part of me noted how broken she really was; and how she simply didn't care anymore. After years gone by, she spilled all to a doomed human girl – what else was she to do?

She continued; as though she felt she owed me an explanation for what she evidently planned to do. In any other situation; I would have kept her talking but all I could do was shake my head at the unnecessary violence that had sprouted from James' lack of self control. Lives ruined. People dying.

I figured it wiser not to tell her this – until I was sure there was no chance of me living. You've gotta keep hoping, right?

"I'm doing it for him," she whispered, clenching her eyes shut once more, and it was the most conflicting thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Ever. This spectre that I was so terrified of; that I used to dream about and wake up terrified of... she was reduced to a lost little girl who wanted a purpose. And how could I blame her? If someone killed Edward... well; I don't know what I'd do – but I certainly understand.

That was what scared me the most. I knew exactly what she was feeling; and I knew if she was able to come this far; then she fully expected to walk away and leave my dead body behind. I was still waiting for the fear to take me – as it was, expectance and apology filled my heart.

"You aren't scared."

"No."

"Why?"

"Does it matter?"

Her lips quirked at my calm response. Vampires seemed to find me interesting – not that it was helping me here. She heaved a sigh and pushed herself off the doorframe.

"Well," she said abruptly, "no use waiting. Any messages you want delivered? I'll do that for you, I suppose... everyone deserves a voice."

This was insanity. The whole situation screamed 'you're dreaming!' and yet I found myself choked up; at a loss for words. She took a step forwards, her eyes showing that she had steeled herself and was not prepared to wait any longer.

"Edward?"

I nodded dumbly. She smiled in response.

I didn't even see her leap. I did, however, feel the crack of my face against the linoleum, and hear the ragged scream that tore unheeded from my own throat.

It was a classic assassination. Total vampire style – two red hot spikes drove into my neck, and – as always – I was thinking about the stupidest thing in the given situation. I was thinking back to biology sciences, and about how if her teeth really were red hot then they would cauterise the wound and prevent it from bleeding... so it must have been my imagination.

That didn't stop the pain... or the fire that I felt advancing.

She was going slowly. She was drawing it out... deliberately or not; I wasn't sure – but I did know that if I was still alive by the time the fire started; then I was unlucky.

The screams choked and died; the suction in my neck similar to the feeling of pull when you suck your arm as a kid; watching the red patch that forms afterwards.

But there would be no red patch. There would be no red.

Opening my eyes for what I thought was the last time; I barely registered the image above me until the sound of shattering glass reached my ears. Once the sound came; the sight followed and I processed the image of a sinuous form crashing through my kitchen window.

Carlisle had never looked more like a vampire than he did when he burst through that window.

His face was stretched; mouth opened in a snarling roar that echoed in my ears like a waterfall crashing around me. Eyes wild and staring; he bore down on me and I felt the pins roughly yanked from my neck, jerking my sight away and leaving my without the energy to refocus.

Hearing shrieks and metal screeches; I was vaguely surprised when I realised the broken glass had skewered my body. Blood pooled weakly at several points down my form; and the lack of blood made the world a cradle and I the rocking baby.

Fleetingly catching sight of Jasper's stormy face shadowing through the window; the pain suddenly receded and a foreign stab of alertness punctured the fiery bubble I had been in.

With a newly reinstated mental acuity; I realised Jasper was keeping me awake. If I fell asleep at this point; I would stay asleep.

Just as abruptly as it had begun, the noise was over. It was all gone; and I only heard a residual ringing which faded into nothing.

Carlisle's face loomed over me once more, and as he kneeled down beside me, I saw them all there behind him – Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, even Esme... Edward's face was the only missing one, and I hadn't the energy to cry.

My eyes slid back to Carlisle's, and they saw soft gold swimming there, flushing out the murderous black which had uprooted his image moments ago.

"Bella," he murmured in his faint accent. His face was sorrowful; the picture of sadness. I wanted to tell him not to be sad, but I couldn't think straight and I felt myself slipping back again. My hands fluttered weakly, trying to grasp anything to anchor me to consciousness, and my mouth jerked in silent screams for help.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry... oh God... oh, Bells-...."

I wasn't sure who was speaking. It might have been a combination of them all; but their sympathy was acknowledged all the same.

A hand found my own with a feather light squeeze, and as another identical one brushed my hair back and felt my pulse, I realised it was Carlisle's. He shifted beside me and looked behind him.

"Too far gone," he whispered. I took in their faces.

Esme and Alice were silently shaking; Esme with furious sobs and Alice with anger and hatred. Her sadness was in her eyes, but her body radiated fury. Emmett was standing back, looking murderous and incredibly pissed off, but as he caught my eye his face smoothed out into sadness and concern. Jasper stood beside him; not appearing to be struggling with the large amount of blood in the room as he watched me. His eyes were screwed up a little with effort; but I suspected that had more to do with the fiery, searing pain that he was keeping from my body.

Carlisle pulled me up gently, his hands effortlessly propping me up from my back, and he hugged me tightly for a moment before picking me up extremely carefully. Without jostling me at all, he slipped back out through the empty window pane.

"I've called Edward," whispered Alice to me as she pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead and ran past me.

I unconsciously pressed my face into Carlisle's arm; the calm cool of his skin soothing my neck. Jasper stayed with me, one hand lightly touching my shoulder as he kept me awake and in control. We ran.

Almost as soon as it had begun, the run was over. Carlisle transferred me into Emmett's waiting arms without any disruption to my catatonic state, and Emmett looked down at me just like a big brother. It made me feel safe – and somewhat dwarfed.

I looked back to the others, and somewhere along the line we all ended up in Carlisle's office; temporarily a hospital room. I wasn't quite in synch and wasn't quite sure how we had all made it up there without my noticing.

I felt somewhat apologetic as I saw the bloodstained clothing that Emmett and Carlisle sported.

"The venom is eating away at the drugs," murmured Carlisle to the others; and I wasn't sure if it was unusual that I could hear him. I settled for listening. "Jasper is... well, he can't keep the worst from her, bet-... oh, God, this is just-"

"We know," whispered Esme, her eyes still raking over me. She was probably thinking how scrawny I was – Esme's automatic mothering made me feel cared for and somehow made the situation (which I knew I was still avoiding processing) more bearable.

"I'll stay," muttered Jasper. "I'll- I mean, I can't... it's not stopping the pain, but... she'll be okay. Conscious. Able to-... you know; when he... if he comes."

"He'll come. No amount of misplaced guilt would stop him from coming," said Alice firmly. Rosalie still hadn't said a word, but earlier she had brushed my hair back gently, and looked straight into my eyes for a moment. It had been enough for me.

"It'll all be over soon, honey," said Esme, turning back to me. "You'll be one of us."


End file.
